The Rockman/Mega Man franchise celebrates its 25th anniversary in December, and I can't imagine a cheerful observance is coming for the hardcore fans of one of video gaming's cornerstone franchises. They've been upset ever since last year's heavy-handedcancellation of Mega Man Legends 3 for the 3DS, a game which had asked for community input through the release of a prototype version.

Just because a series celebrates its 25th anniversary doesn't automatically mean we're…
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Well, the fans are going to troll right back. And the outright mockery of this flash "version" of Rockman Xover should sting. It was built in 24 hours using five-year-old software. "We did this to show how effortless it is to create the core *feel* and gameplay of Xover," the creators say in one of the game's concluding screens.

To be fair, Rockman Xover contains some card-collecting and role-playing elements not replicated in this flash game. But who cares, it's not like that would make this "gameplay" any better than what it is, which is a Tiger handheld with better visuals. And if you're wondering, "Christ, is that really how the game plays?" The answer is, yes. The development team based their flash game on what they saw in this video. (Here's the official trailer, too.) The auto-play button works, too.

Mega Man fans, if this doesn't show you how little Capcom now thinks of its once-great…
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Publishers take heat all the time but it's usually from folks who didn't care much for the series in the first place. It's brutal to see the most ardent fans of a series giving its publisher a middle finger. I don't see much of a happy birthday coming in December.